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Budget 2023 – Closing the Gap, not the Divide

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Ottawa, ON – March 28, 2023 – The Government of Canada’s emergency response to the Covid pandemic put in place economic programs that provided stability for people experiencing hardship. The crisis has evolved from immediate health to long-term economic and social instability.

“Pandemic economic supports provided a floor that people could stand on to build their lives and opened a window into the future – a future that closes the gap of income inequality and enables people to climb out of the social welfare poverty trap” notes CASW President Joan Davis-Whelan.

Budget 2023 announced a one-time $2.5 billion Grocery Rebate that is welcomed however falls desperately short of providing the ongoing support families need to share in the remarkable opportunities that Canada can provide for all. CASW welcomed the small steps taken in Budget 2023 to close the wealth gap in Canada including an increase to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and steps to limit the harm of predatory loan economic traps.

“This budget delivers rebates, a wealth tax increase, and lending limits when stable, long-term economic support is needed for Canada to turn recovery into growth” states Davis-Whelan. “Budget 2023 closes the gap but not the divide, missing the opportunity to embrace the economics of equity with a basic income” states Davis-Whelan.

CASW supports the increases to the Canada Health Transfers and the announced $25 billion over 10 years of healthcare investments, through bilateral agreements, with the provinces and territories. Budget 2023 also allocates $359.2 million over five years to support a renewed Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy.

“CASW deeply appreciates the investment in health and substance use and strongly supports the Government of Canada in its commitment to addressing problematic substance use within public health rather than its criminalization” states Davis-Whelan. “What is missing is a dedicated Canada Mental Health Transfer; without it, there is no way to hold federal investments accountable to achieving mental health parity for all.”

Finally, CASW is profoundly dissatisfied that Budget 2023 did not expand student loan forgiveness from doctors and nurses, who work in underserved rural or remote communities, to the profession of social work.

“Doctors and nurses are important to healthcare” states Davis-Whelan.  “However social workers are also integral to healthcare, and it is upsetting that their service in rural and remote communities is seemingly not valued by the Government of Canada.”

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Canadian Association of Social Workers - Association canadienne des travailleuses et travailleurs sociaux
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